My Happiness Project: June

My Happiness Project: June

I debated about whether to write about this here or not, but I've decided to put it out there. Have you ever read The Happiness Project:Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun? My husband read it on a vacation shortly after it first came out, and he handed it to me immediately. We loved it. Last week, in the Outer Banks, I picked up her second book on the topic, Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self Control and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life. Both are a fast read, but the second reminded me of how much I liked the first book-and, more so, how much I liked the small changes I made to my life after reading it!

So, I'm doing another happiness project! From now until December, I'll be focusing on a different topic each month, and I'd like to invite you to do the same. You could get a primer in the concept on her website if you don't have time to read the entire book. I'd love to hear what your project includes if you decide to play along with me!

Strawberry Lime Cucumber Mint Water via

Here's my plan:

• The word of the month is HEALTHY

• No sugar

• Do things I like

• More movement

• Smile often

She doesn't use a word of the month per se, but she uses a word for the year. I like the idea of having a single word that serves as a mantra. At first, I thought of the word as BODY, but I think the word HEALTHY puts the focus where I want it. As you can see, June will be about physical cleansing for me.

July will be about LEISURE (delight in organization, act carefree, under-react in the moment, meditate), August about NEST (create beauty, purge stuff, use what we have, do one of my husband's projects), September about ADVENTURE, October CELEBRATE, November GENEROSITY, and December BOUNDARIES. As I read, I add specifics to each month to fill out my plan.

I'll update here throughout the month and would love to hear what you do to increase your happiness-in fashion, in love, at home, wherever!